Torche

The window seats in the castle show how people would have used any natural light available. When this wasn’t available the castle residents would have used rush lights, tallow (animal fat) or beeswax candles. Only the wealthiest households would have used beeswax.

Nowadays, we illuminate rooms at the flick of a switch. With rising costs and the climate crisis, we are starting to think more carefully about how we use energy. New technologies are enabling us to rethink our relationship with light. With efficient portable lights we can illuminate our immediate space as we need to, rather than the whole area.

The base is made from steel which is blackened to reflect how steel and iron objects would age over time. This is seen in the remaining ironwork visible in the castle – for example, the door hinges. The colours also pick up the veins of iron ore in the sandstone from which the castle is built.


Materials: Blackened steel. Hand-blown glass shade. Battery-powered LED.

Designer: Anthony Forsyth